Hou Lu Feng once believed love could change fate.
He was wrong.
Standing in the center of the Hou Clan's outer courtyard, Hou Lu Feng stared at the woman before him Liu Wan'er, his fiancée since childhood. Her beautiful face showed no hesitation, no guilt. Only disgust.
"Hou Lu Feng," she said coldly, her voice sharp like a blade, "you are trash. A man with no cultivation talent. Staying engaged to you is a humiliation to me."
Her words pierced deeper than any weapon.
"I, Liu Wan'er, formally break the marriage agreement."
The courtyard exploded into whispers and mocking laughter.
Hou Lu Feng clenched his fists. "Wan'er… we grew up together. The marriage was approved by both clans"
"Enough!" she snapped. "Do you think I would bind my future to a useless man like you?"
She turned away, walking toward a handsome youth standing beside an elder Hou Heng Ming, the illegitimate son of the Seventh Elder.
Only then did Hou Lu Feng understand.
This betrayal had been planned.
Before he could speak again, a loud snort echoed through the courtyard.
"Silence!"
The Seventh Elder, Hou Han Ming, stepped forward, his gaze filled with disdain.
"Hearing this today has disgraced the Hou Clan," the elder declared. "Hou Lu Feng, as the Third Young Master, you have brought nothing but shame."
Hou Lu Feng's heart trembled.
"From this moment onward," Hou Han Ming continued, "Hou Lu Feng is stripped of his title as Third Young Master and expelled from the Hou Clan."
The words struck like thunder.
"And the position of Third Young Master," the elder added calmly, "will be given to my son Hou Heng Ming."
The crowd gasped.
Hou Lu Feng stared in disbelief. "Elder… that position was granted by the clan head!"
Hou Han Ming's eyes turned icy. "Are you questioning the elders' decision?"
Before Hou Lu Feng could respond, several guards rushed forward and kicked him to the ground.
Pain spread through his body, but it was nothing compared to the hatred boiling in his heart.
Yet this was not the end.
That very night, the Hou Clan announced shocking news.
The Star Light Token, a priceless treasure from the Treasure Pavilion, had been stolen.
And the culprit?
Hou Lu Feng.
"It's a lie!" he shouted as he was dragged before the clan. "I was framed!"
But no one listened.
Hou Heng Ming stood in the crowd, a faint smile on his lips.
The verdict was announced without investigation.
"To punish his crime," an elder said coldly, "Hou Lu Feng will be publicly humiliated and sent to Death Valley."
Chains were wrapped tightly around Hou Lu Feng's body heavy, cold, and merciless. He was thrown into an iron cage and paraded through the streets of the clan.
People spat at him.
"Trash!"
"Worthless!"
"Beggar!"
"Good riddance!"
Blood trickled down his face as the cage shook violently. His mind replayed his life again and again fed scraps, mocked by servants, beaten by disciples, ignored by elders.
He had never been a son of the Hou Clan.
Only a burden.
At the edge of Death Valley, the guards stopped.
"This is where you end," one of them sneered.
They opened the cage and pushed him forward.
Hou Lu Feng fell.
The wind screamed past his ears as the chains dragged him down into darkness. His body smashed against jagged rocks. Bones cracked. Blood splattered everywhere.
So this is my end…
As his consciousness faded, memories flooded his mind.
The cold stares.
The insults.
The betrayal.
If… if I ever get another chance…
I will make every one of you pay
one hundred times over.
He crashed into the valley floor.
Miraculously, he was still alive but barely.
His body was shattered. One arm was torn apart. Blood pooled beneath him as he waited for death.
Then
Growl.
Low, terrifying sounds echoed from the cave walls.
Pairs of glowing eyes appeared.
Wolf Demons.
They rushed toward him, madness and hunger in their eyes. Hou Lu Feng tried to scream, but no sound came out.
Claws tore into his flesh.
Teeth ripped through muscle.
He could feel everything.
Pain beyond pain.
Tears streamed down his blood-covered face as his body was devoured alive.
Suddenly
A thick purple smoke erupted out of nowhere, filling the cave.
The wolf demons howled in fear.
One by one, they retreated, fleeing in terror.
Hou Lu Feng lay there, half-dead, unable to see, unable to move.
Then
A strange sound echoed in his mind.
"Congratulations, Host."
"You have been chosen by the Evil Heavenly King System."
Hou Lu Feng's shattered consciousness trembled.
"Newbie Gift Package activated."
"Reward granted: Full Physical Recovery."
"Reward granted: Evil Heavenly Divine Arts of the Demon Ancestor."
Purple light surged into his broken body.
Bones began to reform.
Blood flowed back.
Flesh regenerated.
Pain vanished.
In the darkness of Death Valley, Hou Lu Feng slowly opened his eyes.
This time
They burned with hatred.